“Unfortunately, I will have to brutally pacify some (of the students – ed.)” – their biology and nature teacher wrote to fourth and sixth graders attending Primary School No. 206 in Łódź. In the further part of the message, he warned his charges that their parents would lose parental rights, or their families would be placed under the “supervision of a social worker”. – He did it because he wanted peace to reign during classes – comments the school's principal, who tells us about “outrageous words” and “a big mistake by an inexperienced teacher”.
The message that reached students of at least two classes of a primary school in Łódź on Monday evening outraged one of the parents, who sent us its content on Kontakt24. We read in it that the teacher hopes to “turn some of the students into biologists/naturalists”. And what about the rest? We quote the teacher:
“Unfortunately, I will have to brutally pacify the rest, because it is impossible to conduct classes when we will be interrupting each other,” the teacher emphasizes, who then scares his charges with the fact that… their parents will lose their parental rights. He writes:
“The procedure is as follows: 3 comments, calling the parents, after calling the parents twice, a visit from a social worker and possibly taking away parental rights or placing the family under the supervision of a social worker. So I ask people who are not interested in the lesson to at least keep quiet as much as possible,” says the teacher (original spelling).
At the start
We talk to the principal of the Łódź school, Dorota Michałkiewicz, about the message the teacher sent to students. “I received a signal about it before you asked for a comment,” she says.
She reports that the teachers of the classes the recipients of the messages attend told her about the teacher's post. “Parents of sixth-grade students were concerned about what the employee in question wrote. I'm not surprised, because I also think that the content of the message is outrageous and should never have been sent in such a form,” she says.
At the same time, he emphasizes that he sees certain extenuating circumstances in the whole situation.
– We are talking about a very young teacher. This is his first six months in this role. He started work on September 2, and then went on unpaid leave for two weeks. He is still learning this job, which is very demanding – he emphasizes.
Dorota Michałkiewicz points out that the biology teacher – although inexperienced in this role – has excellent references to pass on knowledge to children. – He is passionate, has a very good education. He previously worked with young people at various events. I suspect that he hit a wall when he saw that not all students allowed him to perform his duties. He wanted to show that it would not work with him, but he clearly overdid it. He can see it himself now – says the headmistress.
On the rug
The teacher in question was summoned by the principal on Wednesday morning.
– He said that he wanted to make sure that there was peace in his classes, so that no one would disturb him in carrying out his duties. I told him that I understood his motivation, but that the measures he took were unacceptable – says the headmistress.
– So what did you advise him? – we ask.
– I have been a teacher for 33 years, but I remember that it was not easy for me at the beginning either. An education worker must rise above the emotions of children with their maturity, be above someone else's performance. They must find the strength to interest students, to win them over. At the same time, they must set clear boundaries, but you have to be honest about it. Writing about the systemic taking away of the right to care is nonsense and untrue. And it is difficult to build anything on the lack of truth – emphasizes Dorota Michałkiewicz.
She emphasizes that she did not take any disciplinary action against the teacher. “Everyone makes mistakes. Especially at the beginning of their journey. I am sorry that our students received such a message, but you can draw conclusions from everything,” she emphasizes.
In the lesson
While preparing this text, we had a chance to watch the lesson led by the author of the awkward message. The students – at least this time – listened attentively as the teacher told them about genetics.
– This is a man who knows what he is talking about. He knows how to talk about it. He just needs to learn how to deal with those who – at least at first – do not want to hear about it – the director concludes.
Main image source: tvn24.pl